The Genesis Game

The two of them quickly exited the Inn of the Cursed Fig and headed out towards the downtown plaza of Hometown. Overhead, the Sun was blazing, at least what the World Dungeon passed off as a sun, a sort of artificial light also used to regulate the day and night cycles.

Seraph thought the Guild Hall they needed to be clear would be close and as they bounded down the stairs as saw their destination on the other side of the Plaza, the amount of relief that Seraph felt throughout his body realized the extra stress he hadn't known he was carrying.

The five Prime Guild Halls remained as they had in the past. One of the few things that appeared to have remained unchanged. The five Prime Guild Halls were all found in the downtown plaza, each evenly spaced apart from each other. If one were to form a line connecting the Prime Guild Halls, it would form a pentagram that covered the entirety of downtown, in much the same way that the dungeon gates in the innermost parts of the plaza formed an octagon.

Though he had managed to secure for himself many advantages in his past life, control of a Prime Guild Hall had not been one of them. His guild, Carrion Crow, had been unsuccessful in their attempts at claiming any of the Halls, opting instead to establish the guild in an affiliated location on the outskirts of the city, only a Prime Guild Hall offered unique advantages, and those advantages only extended to the first guild to seize it.

Hometown had five Prime Guild Halls. The Hall of Justice had already been seized by the new guild "Inquisition of the Blind Eye." With a name like that, Seraph knew they would be a problem and that he would likely be a target of their "Inquisition." if their leader was the petty elf George as he suspected.

With one already claimed, that left the other four. The Halls of the Deep which granted the guild that claims it access to an ability to manipulate water. The Halls of Rot which allows the guild that claims access to passive abilities applied on-hit during combat. The Halls of Clay which allows the guild that claims it access to the creation of personal golems. Lastly, the Halls of the Tempest which grants the guild that claims it access to an ability that grants limited flight.

"Seraph." Said Sadie as the walked. "Are you sure about this? You know you can only claim of the Guild Halls. Whatever ability you may gain, forfeits the others, are you absolutely sure of your decision."

In truth, he wasn't sure of his decision, but he had committed to it, and though he could argue the merits of each back and forth, only one of the Halls would lead him to the item which would save Jack's life, and through Jack, Rosebud the Nether Demon that had somehow been trapped into Alexander's body during the reanimation spell. The Demon was the true prize of their partnership.

In his other life there had been many Guild halls though 5 main branches. The 5 main branches all offered massive in the advantages to those who claim them. His Guild carrion Crow had been unsuccessful in claiming any of those halls until many years had passed instead setting up on the outskirts of the city.

For Seraph, the prize was the Hall of Rot. Of the Guild Halls he could take, the Hall of Rot would protect his people the most in combat against others. People are less likely to start a fight, even a fight they know they can win, if they cant walk away unharmed. He had been able to secure the Guild Hall in his past life, as the Guild that seized it had been destroyed early by the Legends guild. These guild hall advantages stay with the Guild, until the Guild was destroyed or disbanded that special ability disappeared with it. It was in this way that the dungeon had tried to prevent active warfare between the guilds not that it worked.

Finally he answered her question. "I want to have a deterrent to keep our people from being attacked Sadie. The Hall of Rot can be that deterrent, very few monsters are going to car about boils and septic flesh, but people do."

"That makes sense." She said, looking around as they reached the Hallway point of the plaza, the elves that were moving about as they went about their business largely avoided them, the few that didn't stared at both Seraph and Sadie with bitter hatred before going back to tending their tastes.

"They don't recognize me anymore do they. They think I'm with you." Said Sadie with a touch of sadness in her voice.

Seraph tried to comfort. "No, they don't. They probably think you're just another human, just another pawn of the great murderer. Be thankful they don't recognize you, in this way you can better help your people by seeing from another perspective how much of humanity's anger they brought on themselves. You can help them in ways you never could before, even if they hate you, what you do will help keep them alive."

Sadie said nothing, but Seraph could tell by how her body bristled that his words were not appreciated.

As they approached the shadow of the Halls of Rot, the air began to chill. The closer they got to the builder, the more aged it appeared, a glamour or curse that showed a great ruined church, the grass around it greyed and brown, the bushes b.a.r.e and full of dried twigs, a feeling of being watched descended upon them. Once inside, they would have to clear the whole building of the monsters that haunted it.

As Seraph took the first step up the stone stairs leading to the large wooden doors that closed up the church, and then the second and third before reaching out to grab the large iron knocker to pull open the door.

Sadie grabbed his hand to stop him, a question on her mind that she needed answered. "Seraph, you have a chance to do something that will save countless lives, and if your power base is going to be in the middle of the city, you can make a difference, you can shape the city in a way you never could before, you'll have other options besides destruction, so tell me, what are you going to do?"

Seraph let his hand go and moved it away from the knocker. It was not the time or the place, but in his experience there was never a good time or place. "I'm good at killing people Sadie, I haven't stopped being good at that, I can handle the hate that comes with getting my hands dirty. But this time, it can't just be me, I can be a stick, but I need somebody else to be the carrot. I need advisors, not just vassals, I need people willing to challenge my impulses, I need people to be my conscience for me. I want our guild to be Peace Keepers, and Peace Makers"

Sadie looked at him curiously as if she didn't understand the implications of what he had said. "You a Peacemaker? That seems to be against your nature."

Laughing, Seraph responded as he started to push the door open. "You can only keep the peace, when you can do violence, otherwise you're just harmless, and Pacemaker has never truly implied weakness or pacify. If I were to level a city that makes war, is that not peacemaker. It is not a gentle role I see for myself."

"I see." Said Sadie as she turned from him and looked ahead. "Let's go."

Notice - Now Entering "The Forgotten Church - Halls of Rot"

Notice: Quest Discovered - To Clear a House

Conditions: Clear the Halls of Rot of all enemies.

Reward: Gain Control of the Halls of Rot

Permanent Effect Granted - On-Hit Necrotic Damage